


Savior

by below_the_starry_clusters_bright



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Soft boi Ben Solo, Thirsty Rey, and join me maybe, and this is crazy, but screw your wedding, help i turned ben solo into a princess in a tower, hey i just met you, medieval fantasy inspired, unwanted arranged marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 15:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15888396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/below_the_starry_clusters_bright/pseuds/below_the_starry_clusters_bright
Summary: Rey uses the distraction of a royal wedding to steal into a high tower room of the palace. She expects to find unguarded treasure. Instead, she finds the prince of the realm snatching his last few minutes of freedom before the marriage he desperately does not want.Or“This room was supposed to be empty,” was all Rey could think to say.





	Savior

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve repeatedly watched Disenchantment on Netflix and this is what happened. Some quasi-medieval unbeta’d fairytale nonsense. The Force is present in the fic but not referred to. Rey just thinks she’s super lucky and maybe part-spider given how well she can climb walls. Friendly neighborhood Spider-Rey. Anyway, hope you enjoy, comments are appreciated!

* * *

 

The sun burned bright and clear on the morning of the royal wedding. For the Kingdom of Coruscant, it was a sign that the gods had blessed the impending union. For Rey, hallway up the palace wall with the blade of a kitchen knife clenched between her teeth, it meant sweat-slick hands and the fear that each new grip on the divots in the stone wall could be her last.

Rey breathed through her panic. She had too many years’ experience of climbing forbidden walls to let two damp palms slow her down. She had slipped a few times in the past, tumbled down more than once, but had never sustained more than a sprain to show for it, no matter the height.

“You don’t deserve all the luck you get, girl,” Unkar Plutt would grumble as he took her latest hoard from her. Rey bit her tongue every time; she may have given Plutt enough to justify being fed and sheltered for another night, but he was a cruel master. More than once, he had taken her pilfered offerings and kicked her out anyway.

Rey wasn’t sure she would call herself lucky. Good at avoiding detection, maybe. Today was the biggest day in living memory. The palace, its grounds, even the surrounding streets were all filled with guards. Even so, Rey had managed to clamber almost to the window of a tall turret without a single eye swivelling towards her. It was as though she had taken all her prayers for invisibility and fashioned them into a cloak to drape around her shoulders.

The last few minutes of the climb were the hardest. Rey huffed as she gripped the window ledge and heaved herself up and over it. The muscles in her arms protested, but the ache was familiar by now. She kept her teeth carefully clenched around the knife as her feet hit the stone-flagged floor. If she was in the right room, there would be a small idol made of gold somewhere around. From Plutt’s description, it would have fed families for a year even without two of the largest rubies in five kingdoms to form its eyes, but of course the royal family had to have gone the extra step in showing their riches.

The obscene wealth disgusted Rey, but she was not there to moralize. She scanned the room as she removed the knife from her mouth. The room was not large, and she found her prize almost straight away, settled on top of a low wooden plinth. The small golden statue was as ugly and ostentatious as she’d imagined, but Rey had her orders.

She had only taken one step forward when the shadows by the door rippled. Rey spun towards the movement, and then froze when a shocked pair of eyes met hers. A man moved into the slants of sunlight. He stared at her, his wide features mirroring her own stunned expression.

 “This room was supposed to be empty,” was all Rey could think to say.

The man shifted his weight from one foot to the other. It was a small move, casual even, except Rey recognized the stance. He was getting ready for a fight. Rey’s world narrowed into a hyper-alert state. She glanced over the man, trying to ascertain his weaknesses. He was big, but she’d fought bigger. Hopefully, the fine material and cut of his clothes meant that he had led a life of luxury and had never had to learn how to fight. She really didn’t want to hurt anyone, but she also refused to die in service of Plutt’s greed. If she had to fight her way out, so be it.

“Are you here to kill me?”

Rey stopped mid-scan. The man’s voice was calm but there was an intensity in his eyes. It was that dark look, as well as his bizarre question, that threw Rey off.

“What?” she asked, nonplussed.

The man flicked his gaze down to the knife in Rey’s hand. Rey’s mouth fell open in horror and she hurriedly placed the knife back in her belt.

“No! I was going to use it to…” She glanced at the statue atop the plinth. Its eyes glinted back at her like an accusation. She flushed and looked back at the stranger. “The room was supposed to be empty.”

The man’s stance didn’t soften, but the weight of his intense stare did.

“That’s my fault,” he admitted softly. “The ceremony won’t start without me.”

“Why?” Rey asked, glancing over his black attire. “Are you the priest?”

“The groom, actually.”

Rey blinked.

The groom.

He was the groom. Which would make him the prince. Which meant that the statue she was so brazenly trying to steal actually, in a roundabout way, belonged to him. More pressingly, Prince Kylo Ren’s reputation was one muttered about in the marketplaces Rey frequented. He was fierce and violent, ill-tempered at best and unhinged at worst. He had slaughtered men for looking at him wrong, and slaughtered women for wailing about it. All of Rey’s hopes that he would not know how to fight evaporated.

Still, looking at the man in front of her, she wondered how true the rumors were. The prince had the physique of a warrior, yes, but the downcast eyes of a poet. There was something achingly vulnerable in the way he looked at her, as though she had caught him in a private moment he had never intended for anyone to see. The Kylo Ren of the bawdy tavern tales would hasten down an aisle, only if so he could legitimately haul a woman over his shoulder and take her to his bedchamber. Instead, this version of the prince had shut himself away in a tower room to either reflect upon or delay his wedding.

Rey didn’t know what to make of him, but she had been silent for too long. Prince Kylo could come to his senses at any moment and call for his guards. Rey had to stay on his good side. She cleared her throat.

“I’ve never met a prince before,” she said. She bent her knees in the single most disgraceful curtsey the prince had likely ever seen. “Your Highness.”

Faint amusement crossed his strong features. “I think we’re a little beyond protocol now, don’t you?”

He seemed to be too polite to mention that he had caught her in the act of stealing. Rey managed an awkward half-smile.

“Yes, Prince Kylo.”

The prince flinched as though the name was a brand. Rey cursed herself. She was not doing the greatest of jobs in staying in his good graces.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” the prince assured her, but his eyes darted from her to the floor and back again. He was frustrated, although with her or himself, Rey couldn’t tell. “I don’t – would you call me Ben?”

Rey nodded, confused but compliant. “Yes, Prince Ben.”

Again, that look of frustration. Prince Ben raked a hand through his thick hair.

“No, just… just Ben.”

“Ben.”

Rey tried the name out. It was a simple name, easy and unpretentious. Just last week, the fisherman’s wife had given birth to a baby named Ben. Rey didn’t think the name warranted the deep look of gratitude its owner gave her, but she didn’t comment on it.

“What’s your name?” Ben asked.

Rey only hesitated for a moment. Even if she thought Ben only wanted her name so he could seek her out and punish her later, she had built up enough good will in the slums to avoid anyone ratting her out straight away. By the time the price had risen high enough or a certain number of fingers had been broken, news would have spread that Rey was wanted, and she would have had enough time to escape.

The plan, as quickly formed and likely to work though it was, wasn’t what coaxed Rey into answering. It was Ben’s tone as he asked. She had never heard a prince beg before, but there was a kind of desperation in his voice. It called to Rey’s own loneliness.

“I’m Rey.”

“Rey.”

He said her name like a prayer. Rey fought not to blush. No one – especially not someone whom she was still technically in the process of robbing – had ever sounded so glad to meet her.

Ben’s gaze slid from her to the window.

“How did you get up here without being seen?” he asked.

Rey shrugged. “I’m good at climbing.”

Ben made a sound that might have been a laugh if it hadn’t been so choked. Ben himself looked surprise to have made the noise.

“I’ll say,” he said mildly. “I didn’t choose this room for its accessibility.”

Rey took a closer look at the tower room. Aside from the godsawful statue, there was a small writing desk with an old calligraphy set laid out neatly. Tucked beneath the desk was a rickety chair with a cloak folded over it. A few portraits had been stacked beside the desk, their gilded frames worn with age. Lying beneath all of these things was a deep crimson rug, starting a few feet away from Rey and stretching to where Ben stood. Rey supposed it made sense for Ben to choose the room if he wanted to be alone, given that, statue aside, it didn’t seem to hold anything of interest.

“Are you here because you’re nervous?” she asked, before realizing that it was none of her business. Still, she did not take the question back, intrigued to hear what Ben had to say.

“Nervous,” Ben repeated in a murmur. He looked at Rey, who was once again struck by the depths of his eyes. “Nothing about this day was my idea. A few minutes alone to contemplate my fate seems like a fair request.”

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself. Something clicked in Rey’s mind.

“No one knows you’re here,” she said softly.

“No, and you should be grateful.” Ben’s gaze hardened. “If the King caught you, he’d have you executed.”

Rey scoffed before she could stop herself. “I’m not easily caught.”

Something to close to amusement twitched at Ben’s lips.

“You know the gods frown on hubris,” he said. “This close to their realm, I would speak a little quieter if I were you.”

Rey had never bought into the idea that the gods lived in the sky. She was also not such a fool that she would outwardly deny the gods’ influence. Ben seemed to read her thoughts as though they were scrawled across her face anyway.

“Ah,” he said, watching her closely. “You fear neither gods nor kings, then?”

“I fear the man whose whims decide whether I can eat or not,” Rey said, her voice colder than before. If a prince of all people decided to lecture her on the gifts the gods provided, she might have to throw him out of the window. “The gods may have dominion, but their gazes never seem to fall on the slums.”

Ben’s voice quietened. “And King Snoke?”

“His gaze never falls on us either, but for that I am grateful.”

Rey had never seen King Snoke in person, but she had once met a runaway soldier. Shaking with fear, he had told enough stories of the life he was fleeing from to convince Rey that, contrary to the monthly proclamations in the main square, their ruler did not oversee his kingdom with strength, compassion and bravery. He was a man to boast of conquering a thousand wheat fields, and still leave his poorest citizens fighting in the streets over a loaf of bread.

Ben stared at her with an inscrutable look on his face. With a jolt, Rey remembered who King Snoke was to him.

“But I shouldn’t speak ill of your father,” she said, bobbing her head. “Forgive me.”

“He’s not my father.”

The news was not shocking. Rey had known – the whole _Kingdom_ knew – that King Snoke had no natural born children. The whole Kingdom also knew that to speculate upon the Crown Prince’s previous life was tantamount to suicide. Even the loosest of tongues had stopped flapping once it became clear they would be cut out.

Half-forgotten rumors that Prince Kylo Ren had had another name once floated to the forefront of Rey’s mind. Not only had she discovered that the rumor was true, but the prince had given her his old name freely.

_This is not how I thought this day was going to go_ , Rey thought.

“I was young when Snoke brought me here,” Ben said. His eyes were distant, as though he was watching his own past unfurl before him. “I know what the speculation must have been, although Snoke was careful to keep me away from it. But he didn’t kidnap me, and he didn’t rescue me. I left of my own will.” Ben’s lip curled in bitterness. “Although, looking back, that’s worse. I can blame no one but myself for how my life turned out.”

“Why did you leave?” Rey asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ben shook his head. “I used to think I knew.”

Rey wavered where she stood. She was filled with the urge to hug Ben. She dismissed the thought as ludicrous; a prince, half a foot taller than her and likely trained in more fighting styles than she could even spell, would not need her comfort.

“Enough about the past,” Rey said, falsely bright. She wasn’t sure why she was still talking, why she hadn’t apologized and climbed back out of the tower as quickly as she could. She only knew she wasn’t ready to let the conversation die yet, danger be damned. “What about the future? What’s your bride like?”

“She’s the Princess of Dathomir,” Ben said, his voice taking on a scholarly tone as though he was reciting something, “a kingdom flush with natural resources and boasting many strong alliances. Her bloodline can be traced back for a thousand years.”

That stung Rey. Until her parents came back for her, she could not trace her bloodline in any direction. Was that the kind of thing Ben valued in a person?

_Not Ben_ , Rey corrected herself, self-conscious. Ten minutes before a man was due to get married was not the time to wonder if she matched up to his criteria. _People._ _Is that what people value?_

Ben must have misinterpreted Rey’s silence, for he scowled.

“I don’t know much about her,” he said. His tone was brusque, but red had heated his cheeks. “None of that matters. You don’t marry someone because of their favorite color.”

Thin threads of anger wove through his tone. It seemed to Rey that Ben wouldn’t mind knowing at least something about his future wife. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Rey gave a small shrug.

“What’s your favorite color?” she asked.

A thoughtful frown creased Ben’s brow. His confusion at least washed away his anger, even if Rey didn’t consider her question something that had to be thought too hard on. Unless Ben had never had cause to think about something so frivolous. Or no one had ever thought to ask him.

“Black,” he said after a moment. “Yours?”

“Green.”

Ben smiled softly. “That’s a good color.”

He looked different when he smiled. Rey’s heart did an inconvenient little leap. She wasn’t here to admire the local royalty. She had to turn the conversation back to Ben’s bride. It seemed cruel to continue quizzing Ben on a woman he admitted he didn’t know well, if at all. The two had at least met, for Rey remembered how, months ago, the main streets of Coruscant were taken over by a procession of Dathomirian carriages. One carriage had been more ornate than the others, a triumph of metal inlaid with silver. _The Royal Family_ , voices murmured around Rey as they all stood on tiptoes for a closer look. With this in mind, Rey chose a question whose answer could be gleaned even after only a brief meeting.

“Is she kind?”

Ben’s smile faded. He held her gaze for one heart-breaking moment and then looked away.

“No,” he said quietly. “No, I don’t think so.”

He looked lost, like a child who couldn’t quite explain how he had found himself in this life, only that he wanted to leave it. Resolve formed like a solid knot in Rey’s chest. Ben deserved better than the life he had resigned himself to. With Rey’s help, and the rubies that probably belonged to him anyway, he could start over. Scaling the palace walls might be a bit of a challenge, and then there was the matter of a disguise, but…

Rey’s plans had led her and Ben halfway out of the kingdom before a realisation slammed her off-track.

She couldn’t leave.

She could never leave, not until her parents came back for her. The gods, or whoever controlled fate, were certainly cruel enough to orchestrate her parents’ return during the short amount of time Rey was not there to greet them. Could she risk it? It would be wiser to stay in the kingdom – where she was left, where she had always been – so that there could be no question as to where to find her.

It would be wiser.

But Ben needed her help.

Rey gnawed on her bottom lip. Her parents had to be the kind of people who would understand that someone was in need. She could leave word with someone she trusted, who could then pass on the message to any searching strangers that they just had to hold on for a few more days. Rey would check back as soon as she could.

Mind made up, she took a steadying breath.

“How are you at climbing?”

Ben’s eyes flashed back to hers. “What?”

“We could risk going through the palace, I suppose, but climbing down seems less risky.”

“What are you talking about?” Ben asked, frowning.

“We’re getting out of here.” At Ben’s stunned expression, Rey added a hasty, “If you want to. It’s fine if you don’t, obviously. You just seem really unhappy and I thought I’d offer a way out.”

The longer Ben stared, the stronger Rey’s urge to jump out the window grew. She shouldn’t have said anything. Ben was nervous, that was all. It was a perfectly normal emotion for anyone to have before their wedding. Rey had charged in as though he was a helpless prisoner and she was his savior. It was stupid, she was stupid, she never should have –

“Together?”

Ben’s voice was hopeful. There was a light in his eyes Rey hadn’t seen before, dim but fighting to get through. Even so, Rey couldn’t shake the idea that she was forcing him into something.

“We wouldn’t have to,” she said quickly. “I could get you out of the Kingdom and then you could go off by yourself.”

“No, together would be…” Ben struggled for a word. “Nice.”

His lips twisted at the corners as though he was annoyed at his own weak choice of word. Rey laughed at the sight, buoyed by the adrenaline of an escape plan.

“We can take the whole statue now there’s two of us,” she said, snapping back into scavenger mode. “I know someone who’ll melt it down for us.”

Ben glanced from Rey to the plinth and back again. “You weren’t going to take the statue?”

Rey shook her head. “The rubies were the prize. They’re small enough to fit into my pockets.”

“That explains the knife.” Amusement tugged at Ben’s lips. “You were going to cut them out?”

“Pry them,” Rey corrected. She tried to stop an embarrassed flush from stealing over her cheeks. “Carefully.”

Ben’s scoff told Rey he did not even slightly believe her. “As much as I’d like to see that attempt, I can take the statue. I’ve climbed higher walls with heavier.”

The assurance brought another grin to Rey’s lips. “Add that to the rubies, and we can live like… well, you.” Plans formed and were discarded in Rey’s mind. She spoke them aloud under her breath. “We’ll have to avoid Unkar Plutt and his boys, obviously, but that won’t be a problem. I’ll come back in a month or so to check if anyone has been asking about me.”

“Wouldn’t it be more sensible to just leave and never look back?” For the first time, Ben looked concerned. “It sounds like we’re going to be making a lot of enemies on our way out.”

“I’m waiting for someone.” At Ben’s expectant stare, Rey half-shrugged. “My parents.”

Rey must have imagined the relief that relaxed Ben’s features, for a moment later his expression was resolute as he factored in the new piece of information.

“When did they leave?” he asked.

“A few years ago,” Rey said vaguely, as though she didn’t know the exact number of days.

Pity flared in Ben’s eyes. It sharpened that old defensive edge inside of Rey, the one that urged her to shout that he didn’t understand, that they _were_ coming back, that something had just delayed them, but they did love her and miss her, he would see.

Rey glared at him, daring him to speak. Ben only nodded.

“Okay.” He cleared his throat. “You, uh, mentioned Unkar Plutt. Is that who you were going to sell the rubies to?”

“Not sell, exactly,” Rey said, eager to latch onto this new topic. “Trade.”

“For what?”

Rey shrugged. “Food. Shelter.”

Ben stared at her.

“These are the biggest rubies in four kingdoms,” he said, his voice low.

“Five, apparently.” Rey blew out a frustrated breath. “But Plutt’s made sure that no one else will touch them, and he knows I won’t leave the kingdom to look for someone else to trade with because of my parents.”

A muscle twitched beneath Ben’s eye. “Suddenly I don’t feel like avoiding him.”

Rey tensed at the aggression in his stance before she realized it was not directed at her. She hushed her instincts down. For the first time, she had someone who felt angry on her behalf. Not at her, not with her, but for her. It was uncomfortable and thrilling all at once.

“We should go,” Rey said, at a loss for anything else to say.

Ben nodded. He moved across the small space to retrieve his cloak from over the chair. He fastened it around his shoulders, grabbed the statue, and then looked at Rey expectantly. Rey opened her mouth, and then thought better of it. Ben had kept quiet about her parents, so it didn’t seem fair to comment on how eager he was to abandon his life.

She turned and peered out of the window, down the sheer drop of the palace wall. She hoped her luck with climbing could somehow cover Ben as well. His hands had dwarfed the statue, but he would still have to fix it to his belt or otherwise secure it if he wanted to reach the ground safely. The grass far below was empty of guards. Rey hoped that wouldn’t change anytime soon.

“I’ll leave a message with someone in the tavern,” she said, leaning back from the window, “and then we can leave straight after.”

“Don’t you have anyone to say goodbye to?”

Rey jumped at how close his voice was. She turned on instinct, only to face the wall that was Ben’s chest. Rey’s mouth went dry. He was – wide. If she inched forwards, she could be flush against the soft fabric of his shirt. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. She looked up in time to see Ben fixate on the small movement. Rey cleared her throat, as though that could negate the way her stomach tightened. Now was _not_ the time.

“A couple of people might miss my occasional nod of greeting,” she said, aiming for a joke, “but aside from that…”

Ben didn’t smile. Instead, in a soft voice, he said, “I don’t have anyone either.”

Rey swallowed.

Not the time.

But maybe later.

She swung a leg over the window ledge and prepared herself for the long climb down. With some careful manoeuvring, she hoisted herself into the open air and down, shifting until her feet had a hold in the divots of the wall and only her elbows rested on the stone ledge. All the while, Ben stared at her in wonder. The breeze whipped his loose hair around his face, but he didn’t so much as blink.

“Are you ready?” Rey asked.

Ben nodded mutely.

“Then follow me.”


End file.
